What is "viola cucullata"

Violet \Vi"o*let\, n. [F. violette a violet (cf. violet violet-colored), dim. of OF. viole a violet, L. viola; akin to Gr. ?. Cf. Iodine.]

1. (Bot.) Any plant or flower of the genus Viola, of many species. The violets are generally low, herbaceous plants, and the flowers of many of the species are blue, while others are white or yellow, or of several colors, as the pansy ( Viola tricolor).

   Note: The cultivated sweet violet is Viola odorata of Europe. The common blue violet of the eastern United States is Viola cucullata; the sand, or bird-foot, violet is Viola pedata.

2. The color of a violet, or that part of the spectrum farthest from red. It is the most refrangible part of the spectrum.

3. In art, a color produced by a combination of red and blue in equal proportions; a bluish purple color.
   --Mollett.

4. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of small violet-colored butterflies belonging to Lyc[ae]na, or Rusticus, and allied genera.

   Corn violet. See under Corn.

   Dame's violet. (Bot.) See Damewort.

   Dogtooth violet. (Bot.) See under Dogtooth.

   Water violet (Bot.), an aquatic European herb ( Hottonia palustris) with pale purplish flowers and pinnatifid leaves.

Viola cucullata, the hooded blue violet, marsh blue violet or purple violet, is a species of the genus Viola native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Minnesota, and south to Georgia.

It is a low-growing perennial herbaceous plant up to 20 cm tall. The leaves form a basal cluster; they are simple, up to broad, with an entire margin and a long petiole. The flowers are violet, dark blue and occasionally white. with five petals. The fruit is a capsule 10–15 mm long, which splits into three sections at maturity to release the numerous small seeds.